


Disquiet

by Port



Series: Rarely Frightened [1]
Category: Gargoyles (Cartoon)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen, world tour
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-19 04:52:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18131210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Port/pseuds/Port
Summary: Avalon takes them nowhere this time, and Goliath tells a ghost story.





	Disquiet

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fenellaevangela](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenellaevangela/gifts).



> Happy Purim, fenellaevangela! And thank you for the opportunity to revisit my first online fandom. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Many thanks to the mods for their help! <3
> 
> Pic is by the author.

The skiff had been drifting for hours in the dark, with no current or wind to direct them, and no lights in the distance to aim for. A sliver of a moon gave minor reprieve from what would otherwise be total darkness. Above the calm slide of waters at the surface of the sea, there was no sound, not even the cry of a gull. Elisa suspected there was no land here at all.

Observations about the quiet had slowed and faded some time ago. Goliath had chosen a direction and was steadily rowing, stopping at intervals to listen for sounds to guide them. Each time, he frowned grimly before setting himself back to rowing. Angela was doing her best to appear on guard for trouble, but as the moon began to set, she took to yawning more often, fingers lazily scritching behind Bronx’s ears. 

“Feels like a good time for a ghost story,” Elisa murmured, struggling not to yawn as well.

Angela’s ears perked. “Do you know any good ones? The ones I know I’ve already heard quite a few times.”

Distracted at last from their surroundings, Elisa grinned. “Why am I not surprised story-time at Castle Avalon was full of ghost stories?” She imagined smaller versions of Angela and her rookery brothers and sisters sitting in candle-light, drawing their wings close about their heads as the Magus recounted medieval tales of horror.

Goliath chuckled, his first sound in hours. “It was the same when I was a hatchling, and even into my youth.” His slight smile turned wistful. “Hudson could tell a tale that would turn you to stone in the moonlight.”

These days, Hudson watched stories on TV, and even if he were inclined to tell frightening tales, the others were usually off exploring the city or pursuing their own interests. Even Goliath kept himself occupied with novels rather than live storytelling. Elisa wondered what it would be like to live in a castle where you had to make their own entertainment. 

“Will you tell us one of Hudson’s stories?” Angela asked. 

Goliath looked around and seemed to decide that they were truly becalmed. He set the oar down and sat. “All right, though I don’t quite have his, how do you call it, his flare for the dramatic.”

Elisa raised her eyebrows and held back a smile. Goliath caught her look and rolled his eyes. He clearly had no clue about the effect of his voice. After a quelling pause, he began.

“This was in the days before Hudson was hatched but after the castle was built. As you flew away from the cliffs, you passed over desolate terrain. Farther out was the forest, and to the south was arable land inhabited by farmers. But in this direction--” he pointed into the darkness, clearly seeing it in his mind’s eye-- “nothing grew. Nothing… but for a certain tree.”

“A tree?” asked Angela.

“An oak that grew out of the dry earth,” Goliath said. “It was many years old, with strong branches but few leaves, even at the height of spring. The clan told many tales about this tree, but no one knew which were true, if any. Some said that humans of old used it to execute criminals by hanging. And indeed, if you saw the oak all barren and alone in the arid ground, it was not hard to imagine it as the final stop on a doomed human’s journey.” 

Goliath paused to glance quickly at Angela, a parent checking in on his child, but she was rapt. Elisa noticed her own hand had gone to her throat and lowered it before Goliath could notice.

“Hangings would have explained much about this tree, for it was known to be cursed. Gargoyles who flew in the sky above it often ran into sudden gusts that tossed them about, as though the air itself was a cat playing with its prey. Hudson speaks of lives lost from falling, accidents that took place when the air was as calm is it is here in this very sea. Even in my day the spot had a reputation, and we avoided that area.

“One night, Hudson was out on patrol, flying as close to the tree as caution allowed. You could see for long distances on the plain where it stood in the center. That night was dark, the moon weak, which made it that much easier to see that the tree was on fire. Needing to investigate, he glided in low, to avoid the danger of a bad fall. As he neared, the flames changed color from orange to dark red to blue and then to red again. He was quite close when he realized there was no smoke, not that he could see or smell.”

Angela gasped. “What happened?”

Goliath chuckled with honest humor. “He turned and flew back to the castle. When he brought others from the clan back to the tree the next night, they found no sign of burning, just the tree and its leafless boughs shivering a little in the breeze.”

Everyone was quiet as they contemplated Goliath’s tale, until Elisa found herself asking, “How much of that story is true, do you think?”

The gargoyles regarded her quizzically. 

“Weren’t you scared a little?” Angela asked.

“A little,” Elisa replied. “I grew up with Freddy Krueger, though. Not much scares me after the Eighties.”

“It’s true,” Goliath said. “I have rarely seen you frightened. Not since we first met, at least.”

“Well, I did fall off the castle. It’s hard to be scared of anything after that.” 

It was hard not to be warmed by the fondness in Goliath’s gaze.

“Wait, you fell off Castle Wyvern? What were you so afraid of? I need to hear this story,” Angela said.

~~~

Beneath the water, two presences listened carefully and decided between themselves that they had found exactly what they needed.


End file.
